The US is the light - both literally and metaphorically

Staff: Mentor

By now everyone who is in this forum knows I am very pro-america, but as of yet I have simply been responding to other people's opinions. I now wish to lay out my own.

I recently realized a flaw in my opinion. It was my belief that the fear of and hatred for the US was simply a matter of jealousy. While this explains the hatred, it doesn't explain the fear. The fear comes from something far deeper and far more complicated.

The world (most of it) fears the US because humans as a species have a flaw. Above all else they fear being wrong. Admitting that the US isn't the evil empire people want it to be would require an examination and admission of the failure of EVERY other system in the world. People are afraid to admit failure.

The peace, prospertiy, and freedom that exists in the western world is entirely the creation of the US and a few willing allies (namely England).

After WWI, Woodrow Wilson proposed the radical idea that instead of punishing Germany for the war we rebuild them and embrace them to bring them back into the world community, then create an organization to be the manifestation of that world community. The world (including the US) was not ready for that. Instead we punished Germany. Result: WWII. After WWII, the US and her close allies realized the need to put Wilson's ideas into practice.

With the Marshall Plan the US did the most extrordinarily benevolent things any country has ever done. She rebuilt not just her friends, but her enemies. Along with this rebuilding, the US gave these countries stable governments and economies built in her own image. And of course, the US created the UN.

But of course the most extrordinarily, bizzarely (if thats not a word, it should be) benevolent thing we did was after putting all that effort and money and blood into rebuilding the western world, we walked away. We gave those countries back to their citizens.

The result is a level of peace, prospertiy, and freedom in the western world never seen before in the history of mankind.

The rest of the world (with a few exceptions) is afraid to admit the spectacular failure of all other governmental/economic systems. An admission of a failure of that magnitude makes anything these countries have done irrelevant. Its just too painful of a thing to do. Communism/socialism is the easiest example here because there are places where communism/socialism exists side by side with american democracy/capitalism. Berlin is a great example. Walk down certain streets and look at both sides of the street and the magnitude of the difference is astounding. But east Berlin is recovering as is the rest of eastern Europe. These people never really believed in communism anyway. They waited 50 years for their eventual rescue by the US and now (not surprisingly) are our strongest supporters.

The second great example is the link I posted at the top of the page. South Korea is illuminated under the light of American freedom and prosperity while North Korea exists in the darkness of failed communism.

Throw religion into the mix and things only get worse. The muslim extremist nations of the middle east have an additional reason to fear admitting failure. Their religion is so ingrained in their lifestyle that to admit their lifestyle is a failure would mean admitting their religion (and their eternal souls) were failures as well. Thats a tough pill to swallow. I certainly don't blame them for being too weak to do it. I can assure you however that once the Iraqi people taste freedom, there is no going back.

Also in that picture is Japan. No country ever to oppose the US has had such a different view of everything than Japan. But look at the picture: once the US gave them, peace, prosperity, and freedom, there was no going back.

Please note: I do not believe and will not ever claim the US or her citizens are perfect. The US contains roughly 290 million humans - all of whom are imperfect beings. Her leaders certainly are no less imperfect. Bad decisions have been made and bad actions taken. I know I'm going to get people posting laundry lists of bad things the US has done. Yeah, I know. See above. I know the US is imperfect. All of those other threads focus on the negatives anyway - people rarely consider the positives (too painful). But in any case, the system of government and economics we have created is the best in the world. To be more blunt it is the ONLY one that works. Furthermore, the US and her system is unique in that it has the built-in ability to CHANGE when the world changes. Our actions in the aftermath of WWII in contrast to WWI are a clear example of that.

Is this arrogance? No. Arrogance is exclusionary. I want EVERYONE to experience the beauty of the American way of life.

So, opinions? Childish namecalling and flaming will not be responded to - those statements are self-defeating and require no rebuttal. Nevertheless, despite the inherrent hypocrisy of flames, I know i'll get some.

i completely disagree. what you consider best is not what is best for everyone by any means. just like all of us, you are and individual and you have your own flaws; to say that you know what is best for everyone is completely ignoring those important facts. please understand these things as they are important for us all to understand so that we can enjoy the wonderful diversity that exists across this globe.

Originally posted by russ_watters
The peace, prospertiy, and freedom that exists in the western world is entirely the creation of the US and a few willing allies (namely England).

What peace?
As for prosperity; well, people have been trading with each other for about 5 thousand years. And the industrial revolution began in my own country (I think). I believe the Greeks were the 'creators' of democracy.
Americans have benefited from ideals and concepts already in place before their nation was even borne.

The idea the rest of the world harbors negative feelings towards the USA because of jealosy is too simplistic and childish an explanation. Just about any country that would have reason to be jealous of the USA would also have reason to be jealous of France, Germany, Russia, or China.

Most of western Europse has economic conditions that are close enough to our own. China and Russia are both world powers. Yet you don't hear about anti-Chinese or anti-German sentiment. Of course, the USA does have both assets(power and prosperity). But if it was based on jealosy, some of that would spill over.

I can tell you for sure that much of the anti-US sentiment in the Middle East is due to our involvement with Israel, as well as religious differences.

The world (most of it) fears the US because humans as a species have a flaw. Above all else they fear being wrong. Admitting that the US isn't the evil empire people want it to be would require an examination and admission of the failure of EVERY other system in the world. People are afraid to admit failure.

What systems does most of the world use that would force it to admit failure? Most of western Eurpose runs on capitalism--the same system that we have, and yet they are against our war. I do not believe that most in that area are anti-American, but they are anti-our-war. You seem to imply that most of the world is afraid to admit the failure of communism--even though most of the world never had a communist economic system. You even said yourself:

But east Berlin is recovering as is the rest of eastern Europe. These people never really believed in communism anyway.

You claim that he US and its system is unique in its ability to change. But many other countries have very similar systems of government (although they were inspired by the USA). I am confused by your calling the USA so unique in this regard.

Arrogance is not necessarily exclusionary. If I tried to force the First Person Shooter genre of computer/video games on people because I wanted them to "share in its greatness", that would be rather arrogant.

Other countries have things set up better than the US does. The UK and other European countries have better health care systems than the US does. In fact, I think that Iraq had free health care before the Gulf War.
I am not trying to paint the US as a bad guy or anything, just countering your argument that others are jealous of the USA.

In conclusion, it is not jealosy that provkes anti-US sentiment, and most don't have any ideals to protect out of fear of being wrong.

The United States was the ONLY country willing to sstand up aagainst monarchy and create a democratic government. I assume you heard of "The Shot Heard Round The World." The Revolutionary War caused a chain of events that caused many nations to follow the United States and become democratic. The United States was the first to stand out and become a nation ruled by democracy. We are a Republic and the Citizens have a say unlike some other countries like Iraq. Which is part of the reason we are there. They not only support terrorism but they are led by a dictator who does horrible things to his own people and there are so many more reasons that I could go on and on.

I too am very pro American

Kyleb I have to ask you this: Time and time again you go against Americans. Why? you are one.

i don't play sides Nicool003, i stand up for what i belive is right. if call that going against Americans, you must remember that you are doing the same when you speak up against us that do not agree with you. if you think such things are wrong, then you are more than welcome to change. ;)

Why do Americans always think the rest of us are jealous? Of what? The standard of living in Australia is better, and we have a lower crime rate. Wake up, kid. Many countries in the world are superior to the USA in terms of living conditions. The ONE thing the USA has better than most of us is that massive military, that's all.

Okay, so the USA is the light, right? That must be why the USA has half of Baghdad in rubble and flames in what they call Operation Iraqi Freedom. Good one.

Russ
The world does not hate the US out of fear of being wrong. That kind of thinking smacks of American arrogance. The "might is right" philosophy. I don't think the US as a nation will ever understand why so many countries have a hatred for it. That would require a degree of self-examination, honesty and humility that the US is not capable of.

I think the US is hated by many in the world because of its aggressive and self-interested foreign policy, its disregard of international law when it suits it, its biased support of Israel. The US likes to think its the world's policeman. Actually it's the world's bully.

So the US is the light eh? Curious you would use that metaphor since the US is currently bringing permanent darkness to many Iraqi people.

Of coure you live in America and even though you are the most anti american person I have ever met You do live in America and freedom of speech is the first amendment. However when the Support our troops topic which is made to support America, all it's allies, and of course THE TROOPS! and people like you barge in and ruin it THAT gets me mad. And no I will not change but you are welcomed to also

Of coure you live in America and even though you are the most anti american person I have ever met You do live in America and freedom of speech is the first amendment. However when the Support our troops topic which is made to support America, all it's allies, and of course THE TROOPS! and people like you barge in and ruin it THAT gets me mad. And no I will not change but you are welcomed to also

No I'm Australian but I will admit that I am more disgusted with my own prime minister John Howard than anyone else. Bush can at least claim he suffers from low intelligence and illiteracy but Howard can not. John Howard is actually a very intelligent man with a great deal of experience in politics and international affairs. He has shown committed support to the US in the conflict with Iraq. I watch him make speeches and looks to me like he enjoys strutting around the world trying to look important. The man could think for himself but he is acting like the US's pet poodle.

I consider I am entitled to point out hypocrisy and inconsistency. I hope that all troops involved in the fighting on all sides return home alive and well. I believe that is the most support one can give to any side if you oppose the war. I think if you provide any kind of support to the troops while they are fighting then you are indirectly supporting the war. I didn't mean to make you mad but it is inevitable that we will be upset at times by views different to our own.

i completely disagree. what you consider best is not what is best for everyone by any means. just like all of us, you are and individual and you have your own flaws; to say that you know what is best for everyone is completely ignoring those important facts. please understand these things as they are important for us all to understand so that we can enjoy the wonderful diversity that exists across this globe.

Not all diversity is wonderful.

Of course mistakes will be made when trying to eliminate the bad stuff, but that doesn't mean that nobody should try.

and Nicool003, chastising people for speaking their mind is un-American in my opinion. differences in opinion on the other hand i respect as part of nature so i do not see any reason to change things, you were the one complaining which is why i made the recomendation to you.

oh here is a good article talking about how much of our ruleing class does agree with the ideology expressed in the topic:

No I'm Australian but I will admit that I am more disgusted with my own prime minister John Howard than anyone else. Bush can at least claim he suffers from low intelligence and illiteracy but Howard can not. John Howard is actually a very intelligent man with a great deal of experience in politics and international affairs. He has shown committed support to the US in the conflict with Iraq. I watch him make speeches and looks to me like he enjoys strutting around the world trying to look important. The man could think for himself but he is acting like the US's pet poodle.

I think the US is hated by many in the world because of its aggressive and self-interested foreign policy,

Yeah right. If you learned World History in school or if you are in school now then you should know the U.S used to follow a foreign policy of ISOLATIONISM! then other countries thought us weak and after the Spanish- American war our policy was slightly changed and we became a world power. Then WWI started and once again the U.S didn't want to get involved. But then Germany began attacking passenger ships and ships that were sending supplies to other countries. Then when we convinced germany not to fire on unarmed ships without warning, they broke that treaty 7-9 months later. So we went to war and within a year or two WWI was over.

You know what? I will finish the whole history lesson.

Then in the 1930's the Great Depression hit. We got one of the best Presidents the U.S has ever seen elected and after about 11 hard years we were drawn out of the Great Depression. It would have been sooner but the Supreme Court shut down some programs which were helping a lot with drawing us out of the depression. When WWI hit he wanted to help the allies but congress refused. December 7th 1941, (a date which will live in infamy ) Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese who were allies with Germany and Italy. The war was not started by the U.S ONCE AGAIN! They caused us to go to war and we did.

So that is called other countries attack the U.S equals U.S goes to war against them= change in foreign policy. After WWII the policy was quite different from the early 1900's.

Oh and by the way. The other war we are in now (War on Terror) Is part of the reason we are having a war with Iraq. He (saddam) is allied with osama bin laden and he also has terror sites and clear connections to the taliban and al queda. And the whole war on Terrorism is taking place because the pieces of crap (terrorists) took down the world trade center! Try that on for size! They (the terrorists, saddam, and his administration not the innocent people) brought this on themselves and I am sick and tired of you people arguing against this whole thing and the president! President Bush had the whole United States with him after September 11, and now everyone is against him because he is against Iraq now and because we are attacking saddam! Saddam is an evil dictator that does horrible things to his own people and he supports terrorism and is allied with those who attacked the world trade center!

But seriously, I'm curious why you bring up "bigotry". The label suggests intolerance of anything different from one's self. Surely you're not so cynical to think that there is nothing in-between absolute intolerance of diversity and absolute permittivity of diversity, and surely you aren't asserting that all diversity is good, are you?

He (saddam) is allied with osama bin laden and he also has terror sites and clear connections to the taliban and al queda... is allied with those who attacked the world trade center!

^^^ I totally agree with the part about Saddam being an evil dictator, but this just isn't true. OBL and Saddam generally despise each other; Saddam's government is secular, and OBL would love to see him overthrown and replaced by an Islamic theocratic government. (cf the lesser-known facts thread) Nearly all the WTC attackers were Saudis... a country with whom the USA is currently allied. None were Iraqis.